The Mango Orchard along Kampot riverside

For a week end or more Les Manguiers is a superb place mingling sophisticated and refined accommodations with simplicity and relaxation, great food, cool swim and yummy homemade jams!

What to experience?

Traditional Khmer House on stilts

Les Manguiers (the Mango Orchard) is a small family-run ‘resort’ (franco-cambodian) located along the beautiful Kampot River, just outside of Kampot town. This peaceful retreat offers comfortable lodging, delicious meals, and a wide range of activities, including relaxing! It has become a favourite place for expatriates living in Phnom Penh.

You can choose from three types of accommodation – Elegantly decorated and spacious bungalows with a private bathroom, a private balcony or terrace over the river, from which you can dive; the Principal Residence with three rooms and a shared bathroom, all with a river view; and, the traditional Khmer House on stilts with two double rooms, a family room and a large common room, each with a private bathroom and a terrace overlooking the rice fields.

Swimming directly from the grounds of Les Manguiers is one of the many benefits of staying here. Take a relaxing ride along the river on canoes, kayaks or a motorized boat to go downriver towards the sea, or upriver, to enter the “Green Cathedral”.

The facilities include, at no extra charge, numerous bicycles to use, a badminton court, ping pong table, children’s playground, WIFI and numerous books to browse. They cook some of the best mango and passion fruit jams you’ve ever eaten.

How does it help ?

The owners are strongly involved in community development and several local associations. Les Manguiers supports a local programme called SAMAKI (meaning solidarity in Khmer) that helps the poorest local families, as well as a local public school. The Programme helps the local school to reduce current dropout rate and support slow learners to acquire the basic knowledge necessary to complete their primary education.

They also facilitate their interaction with local organizations such as Epic Arts Cafe, the village development committee of Daem Po, and the Khmer Culture Development Institute. They can coordinate visits to meet with local fisherman or handicraft makers.

Unwilling to contribute to the destructive forest clearing in the area, everything has all been built from recycled wood. To limit the use of their energy, all of their buildings are built to take advantage of the natural ventilation, air-conditioning is not available here. They supply free drinking water out of a water fountain to curb the use of plastic bottles. They planted many fruit trees (mango, passion and coconuts) on their property, they grow rice, some seasonal vegetables, and most other products are bought directly from local producers.

The owners of the resort made a concerted choice to employ all their staff from the neighbouring area, mainly from poor families. They currently employ 25 permanent employees from the area, who benefit from a health insurance and excellent working conditions.